Middletown School Board To Hire Teachers To Reduce Class Size

MIDDLETOWN — The school board has authorized hiring up to five additional teachers to reduce elementary class sizes.

Parents of students at the Moody School pleaded with the board Tuesday to get another teacher for the first grade there, where 47 students are assigned to two teachers.

Superintendent Patricia Charles said there are several large classes, including the kindergarten at Snow Elementary School, kindergarten at Wesley Elementary School, first grade at Moody and a few grades at Farm Hill Elementary School, where total enrollment has increased by 20 students this year.

"This is proving to be quite a moving target this year," Charles said. "These numbers continue to change."

Board Chairman Eugene Nocera said the school system will try to cut costs this school year to make up the $210,000 to $350,000 needed for hiring three to five new teachers. Salary and benefits for each teacher cost the board about $70,000, officials said.

One way to save money is delaying a carpet replacement project at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, which would cost more than $150,000 and includes asbestos abatement, Nocera said.

If there is not enough money in the budget by the end of the school year to pay for the new staff, the board would have to go before the common council to seek an appropriation, he said.

Associate Superintendent Enza Macri said in the 2013-14 school year, the district hired certified teachers as "interventionists" to help address large class sizes in a few schools. Macri said the job market is tight for elementary teachers, so the board was able to hire them at lower salaries to give instructional help to students.

Administrators said they would prefer to offer teaching positions instead of interventionist spots, and said the positions could be filled within a week if money is available.

Moody Parent-Teacher Association President Carolyn May and several other parents spoke to the school board Tuesday. May said Wednesday she was pleased that the board and administrators listened to parents' concerns.

"We feel thrilled that our voices have been heard," May said. "We are the Moody PTA but we are fighting for the entire district, too."

After learning last week that one first grade teacher had been moved from Moody to another school, parents began contacting the school and central office, and started a petition, May said.

Parents said Tuesday the superintendent was responsive and sympathetic to their concerns that higher class sizes would mean less individual attention for their children.